Blanc Tale
by SierraSia
Summary: A fanfiction based off the game Undertale, with some inspiration from Deltarune and the fan-made series Glitchtale. This tale follows a human child and a monster child meeting one night and forming a friendship no one else knows of.


_Long ago, two races lived in harmony: Humans and Monsters. One day, however, a war broke out between the two races. The monsters suffered massive casualties, while the humans suffered none. Eventually, the humans won the war and sent the monsters to the Underground, sealing them away with a magical barrier. However, there was one group of monsters that the humans weren't able to catch. This group was the Kitsune Clan._

 _The Kitsune monsters have the unique ability of disguising themselves as humans. Using this ability, they were able to hide from the humans and avoid being trapped in the Underground. Over the centuries, the humans continued to hunt the Kitsune Clan down. In turn, the Kitsune continued to hide away from humanity, often moving to different locations when they were suspected. The Kitsune continued trying to find peaceful ways to break the barrier and free the other monsters, only fighting when they were attacked by humans. And sometimes, Kitsune who are caught in a fight are never seen again. It was a continuous cycle of fear and despair for the clan._

 _Each generation of Kitsune was taught to stay away from humans. And if a human were to spot them, they should run away. One day, however, a young Kitsune child went out in a forest to gather some herbs. But when night had fallen, she couldn't find her way home. And not too far away, a human child was visiting that very same forest._

* * *

"Maybe it was past this tree and... No, thats the same tree I confused with another one earlier."

At that point I saw why mom always said not to go too deep into the forest at night. But the herbs outside the forest weren't enough for the medicine, so I thought if I went a little deeper into the forest then-

 _Screech!_

"Gah!" I ducked my head just in time as something flew right over me. I turned around to see what kind of creature almost hit me, only to find that it was an owl. I felt like I was going to cry at any second and knew I needed to get out of there. I just started running, thinking that I would run out of the forest and I could just walk around it to get back home. I didn't care if I was running the wrong way, I had to get out of there! But when I was running, I saw something else in the forest and stopped to hide behind a tree. I took a peek around at whatever this thing was. It looked like it was a person, but it didn't have a tail. I thought it might have been another Kitsune in disguise, but their clothing was colored. Then I saw their eyes, they were colored too. No tail, colored clothing and eyes... Mom said that someone like that would be a human. They started looking around, I think they might have saw me when I was running. But I stayed behind that tree. I was so scared of what they might do if they saw me. So scared that it took me a few seconds to remember that I needed to put up my disguise when I'm near humans. I haven't had a lot of practice with my disguise magic, but when I used it I thought I might have done it right. Peach skin, no fur, no ears... for once I actually thought I did it right! I was so happy that I shouted, "Yes! Finally!"

"Hey, who's there?!"

I _might_ have forgotten about the human for a moment. I heard their footsteps coming towards the tree I was hiding behind and called out "I know you're there, so stop hiding".

I was trying my best to not panic and calm down, trying to be as normal as I could be. So with a deep breath, I stepped away from the tree and let the human see me. I didn't notice until then that the human was the same size as me, so they weren't as scary as I thought they were. We just stared at each other for a few seconds before I finally spoke. "Um... H-hello?"

They kept staring at me for a few more seconds before they looked at the tree.

"You were _trying_ to hide behind this tree, right?"

"Um, y-yes?"

"If that's the case, then shouting out loud isn't really a good idea." They smiled and laughed a little, which made me feel less scared than I was before.

"Hehe, y-you're right. I was just happy because I, um… found such a really cool tree!"

"You gave away your hiding spot because of a tree?"

"Y-yes! I was looking for a tree that, um… looked really good. And this tree is just perfect! I mean, look at it! Yes, I finally found a good tree!"

At the moment, I couldn't really think of any better lie to say. I'm not sure what I lied to begin with. Maybe it was because I was still panicking a bit and thought I needed to lie. They looked up at the tree and then back to me, for a second I thought they might have known I was lying, but instead;

"So are you looking for trees to make a tree house or something?"

"Um, y-yeah?"

"In that case, we could be neighbors! I'm setting up a tree house right over here."

They pointed at another tree close to the one I was hiding behind. I looked like it had a small house stuck in it, it was very strange. It wasn't a good house, either. It was missing some walls, there wasn't anything inside, and I think it was too small to fit any rooms in. Then the human turned back to me.

"It's not finished yet, but when I'm done with mine I can help you when you make yours. We could even- Wait, are those Marsh-Mallow flowers?"

They pointed to my basket that I was using to hold the herbs in. I was surprised that they knew about these herbs, but it also gave me an idea; if they know about these herbs, then maybe they could help me find more!

"Yes, they are. Did you, um... By chance did you see any more of these flowers around here?"

"Yeah, I saw a bunch of 'em on my way in here."

"Great, thank you! Um... which way were they, exactly?"

"C'mon, I'll show you."

They started walking away from their "tree house" and I followed behind. We were heading deeper into the forest, but it felt like the human knew where to go so I tried to calm myself from getting too nervous. I just needed to stick to a plan. Find enough herbs, ask the human how to leave the forest, go around the forest, and then go home. I just needed to stay calm and not let my nerves break my disguise magic.

"Okay, I think I saw some of those flowers right around-"

"Oh, there they are!"

There was a whole bush full of flowers, more than I needed. Excited, I ran ahead of the human and started picking the herbs until I had enough.

"This should do it. Thank you so much for your help! If it's not too much trouble, could you please show me-?"

I turned to face the human again, but they were looking at me funny. They were just staring at me like they saw a ghost or something.

"Um, i-is something wrong?"

"N-no, no not at all. It's just, well... Why do you have a tail?"

I turned around and saw that my tail was still visible. In a panic I dropped my basket and tried desperately to hide it, trying to think of some kind of excuse for it or how I could convince them that they were just seeing things. But because of my panicking, the disguise magic broke and they saw my normal form. They didn't say anything, they just... stared. I didn't say anything either, I just... ran. I ran as fast as I could, even though I didn't know if I was leaving the forest or going deeper. I was scared that I might have caused some kind of trouble by letting them see me, and I didn't want to make it any worse by staying.

"Hey, wait! Come back!"

I tried to ignore their calls and just kept running, but I heard their footsteps following behind me. They were probably chasing me, so I tried to run faster. But at some point, I was losing my breath and couldn't run anymore. Instead I tried to hide behind a rock, curled up into a ball, covered my eyes and hoped that they wouldn't find me. I didn't know what would happen if they found me, and I think that scared me the most. And yet, those fears came true.

"Hey."

I uncovered my eyes and looked up. The human was standing right in front of me, looking down at me as they were breathing heavily. I was too scared to say anything, too scared to do anything. That is, until... she handed my basket of herbs back.

"You dropped these. You looked like you were trying so hard to get all of them, I didn't want you to leave them behind."

I looked at my basket for a second before I reached out my arms and took it back. I couldn't stop shaking, so a few of the flowers fell out. I looked back up at them, but I still couldn't say anything.

They sighed. "I get it. You don't want me to be near you, right? If that's the case, I'll leave you be."

They started to turn around and leave, that's when I finally said something. Something I _had_ to ask them "Why…?"

"Hm?" They looked back at me.

"Why are you being... so nice to me?"

They gave me a confused look. "What do you mean? If someone needs help, you help them. It's the right thing to do. No matter who, or what, they are."

I didn't know how to respond to that. I was so scared of this human, how was it that they were so friendly?

"You don't know where to go in this forest, do you? Do you want me to help you out of here too?"

I nodded my head and sat up. I started picking up some of the flowers and put them back into the basket, and soon they helped picked some up too. When I had all the flowers back in, they stood up and offered me their hand. It toke me a second, but I grabbed onto it and they helped me up on my feet. I looked up to them and smiled.

"Thank you... Thank you so much."

They gave me a smile and a nod back. I followed them through the forest and it didn't take long for us to make it out.

"This is the path I take when I walk from my town to this forest. I doubt that you live there though. But wherever you came from, you should be able to get back home if you go around the forest. And next time you want to walk into a dense forest like that, you might want to find some way to track where you've been. Like a paper trail or something."

"Okay, I'll definitely try something like that next time. Thank you again for your help, but... Y-you're not going to tell anyone about me, r-right?"

"I won't say a word, I promise."

I took a breath of relief "Okay, thank you."

"So I guess this is where we part. Have a good night. And be careful, okay?"

And with that, they walked away from me, toward the nearby town. After they left I started heading back home too. But on my way I couldn't stop thinking about that human. They were so nice, yet strange at the same time. I started to wish that I could have known them a little more. And that wish turned into curiosity.

* * *

After what happened the night before, I made sure that I wouldn't make the same mistake twice and took the human's advice to heart. This time, I used a string with scraps of paper tied to it, just like they suggested. I had to be careful not to let the string get caught in anything while I was walking through the forest, though. It also didn't help that I was feeling a bit nervous being back in the forest after what had happened before. And I know I wasn't not supposed to let myself be seen again, but... I was hoping to find them again. I thought the best way to find them would be to find their "tree house" again. It took a while though, and I thought I wouldn't be able to find it, but then I heard some banging noise nearby. Quietly, I followed the sound up until I found the same "tree house" that I saw last night. I used my disguise magic again, just in case it was something else, and walked around the tree to see what, or who, was making those noises I heard. And when I looked inside the house...

"Okay, just a few more nails and this wall will be done!"

It was the human. I couldn't tell what they were doing, but they looked like they were happy with it. It also didn't look like they noticed me, they just kept talking to them self as they were climbing down a ladder. "If I don't hurt myself, I should be done with this wall and have the third one started by sunset."

When they reached the bottom, they looked up at the house while reaching an arm out to the side, as if they were trying to get something. Just out of their reach was this bag filled with what looked like tiny pillows.

"And if I sneak out to work late again, I might have that wall half-way done, and then... I thought I put the bag here?"

I picked up the bag and brought it closer to their hand, which they finally grabbed onto.

"Here you go."

"Why thank you- whoa!" They jumped back a little in surprise, almost dropping the bag I gave them.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. O-or if you want me to leave..."

"No, no, it's fine. You just surprised me, that's all. I wasn't expecting to see anyone else in the forest. Let alone, well, you."

They then looked behind me, seeing the string of paper scraps I was holding with a confused look on their face. "So what exactly are you doing there?"

"Oh, this? It's a paper trail, just like you suggested. Why? D-did I do it wrong? I wanted to use full-sheets of paper, but my mom wasn't very happy about using so much. So instead I used little scraps of paper."

"That's not... You know what, never mind." They let out a laugh. "But then why are you back in the forest? More importantly why are you, well, here?"

"Oh, sorry. If you didn't want to see me again, I can-"

"No, I mean you were so scared of me seeing you last night. Why let yourself be seen now?"

"I... well..."

"Yes?"

"That's just it though. I _was_ scared of you, but you were so nice to me. I thought you would be some kind of terrible person, but instead I met someone who I kind of... wanted to know a little more about."

They stayed quiet for a second, just staring at me as I said that. At first I thought I might have said something wrong. But then, they smiled, walked up to me, and held out their hand.

"Sona."

"Huh?"

"My name is Sona. And I'm glad you came, because to be honest... I wanted to know a little more about you too."

All my nerves faded away and were replaced with relief. I reached out my hand to theirs.

"My name is Zenko. Nice too meet you, Sona. Or well... meet you again."

"Zenko, huh? Neat name. So you're a monster, right?"

"Yeah? Is... That won't be an issue, will it?"

"As long as no one else sees you, we should be okay. I get why you would want to stay hidden from humans though, so I won't say anything. But you don't need to make yourself look like a human when you're around me."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! In fact I think you look cooler when you're just yourself."

I looked around the forest one more time to make sure no one else was around, and then I let my disguise magic break and turned back to normal.

"That is so cool, how are you able to change like that?"

"It's a kind of magic that me and my family are able to do. Me, my big brother, and my mom can use a disguise magic when we need to hide. Although I'm not very good at it yet... I'm still learning how to hide everything when I use it. But you probably already knew that since you saw my tail last night."

"That along with your ears just now. They were still up when I saw you."

"Wait, they were still up?" I couldn't believe I forgot to check for them before I talked to Sona.

"But hey, practice make perfect right? I'm sure you'll get it down eventually."

"I hope so. W-what about you? What kind of magic can humans use?"

"Ha! If I was able to use magic, this tree house would have been done weeks ago!" They pointed up at the tree house. "You don't happen to know magic that can finish a tree house, do you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh well then, back to the nails and hammer." They started climbing up the ladder to the house again, holding the bag in their mouth until they reached the top. I looked up and watched them from the ground.

"How did you learn to make something like this, anyway?"

"Oh this? I just learned how to make a bird house a while ago, with some help from my brother. So I thought making a tree house would be just as easy. It would just be bigger, with more wood, and more nails... and it would take longer to complete... a lot longer than I expected." They let out a nervous laugh.

"So, is it, uh... still similar to making a bird house?"

"Haha, not by a long shot!"

"So then, why are you making a tree house?"

"So I can have a nice place to relax in outside of my house. It gets busy in town, so having a place to myself in the forest is perfect. Plus it's full of those Marsh-Mallow flowers, which is a neat little bonus."

"I'm surprised that you know what Marsh Mallow flowers are. No one besides me and my mom collect them around here."

"Wait, that's really what they're called?"

"You didn't know?"

"No, I just called them that 'cause my favorite marshmallows have a picture of that flower on their bag." They held out the bag and pointed at the picture of a flower that was on it. It looked exactly like a Marsh-Mallow flower.

"So then... are those little white things in the bag 'marshmallows'?"

"Wait, you've never had marshmallows before? You are missing out, these things are delicious! Here, come on up and I'll share some with you!"

"O-okay then..." I walked up to the ladder, but I was nervous to actually climb it.

"What's wrong?"

"I, um... I'm scared of heights... I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay. The ladder should be strong enough to hold you. And if something happens, I won't let you fall. I promise."

The ladder looked like it was made out of old wood, but if it was able to support Sona I thought it would support me as well. I took a deep breath and started climbing the ladder, slowly but surely. As I got higher, I felt more confident about it. That is until I was near the top, where one of the steps under my foot broke and I almost fell. But instead, I looked up and saw that Sona was there, grabbing onto my hand and keeping me from falling.

"See? I'm right here, and you're okay. You won't fall." They helped me up into the tree house. "I'm really sorry about that, I thought the wood would have been able to last a little longer."

"I-it's okay. I'm okay..." I wasn't hurt, but I was still scared from almost falling. I think Sona noticed too, as they offered me a "marshmallow" to help me relax. It was very soft and fluffy, I didn't figure out that you were supposed to eat them until I saw Sona eat one. So I put it in my mouth and started chewing.

"Well?"

"It's... It's like there's a little party in my mouth! It's deliciouse!" I could feel myself smiling as I was chewing the little treat. When it was gone, it almost felt like it was too soon.

"Haha, I knew you'd like them! And if you think marshmallows are good, you're gonna love them when they're used for s'mores!"

Sona toke some more marshmallows out of the bag and offered them to me. "Here, you can have some more if you'd-" The second I saw them, I grabbed the marshmallows and started eating them quickly. It toke me a moment to realize that I might have been rude, just grabbing them and interrupting Sona. I shyly glanced at them and saw that they were looking at me funny again, then they started laughing out loud.

"You're really funny, Zenko."

"Mnank ouh" I didn't realize that I was talking with my mouth full, so when I did I covered my mouth and became flustered. I finished the marshmallows and finally gave Sona a proper "Thank you". They just laughed again, not caring that I was rude for a moment there.

"Oh yeah! Do you wanna know another reason why I decided to make a tree house here?"

"Why?"

"Look out the front here."

I turned to face the entrance of the house, where I saw above the trees of the forest. And just beyond the trees I saw the town from last night, resting on a hill.

"When I watch the sun set, it goes down behind my town. So I get a beautiful view of it from up here. When I finally complete this thing, I'll be able to relax, lean back on the wall, and enjoy the view."

"Your town looks so small from here. No one can see us from up here, can they?"

"Nah, we're too far away for anyone in town to see us, no worries. And no one ever goes this far into the forest, so we're safe on that front too-"

Suddenly, there was some kind of ringing noise coming from Sona's pocket. They dug their hand into it and pulled out some kind of grey brick.

"Oh, it's my brother. Give me a sec, okay?" They held it up to their ear and started talking to it. "Yeah?... Wait, right now?... Okay, I get it. I'll be home in fifteen minutes... See you soon." They pressed their thumb on the brick with a disappointed look.

"What is that?"

"It's a cell phone, we use them to call and contact different humans. My brother called and said that I needed to go home. Sorry to cut this short."

Already? I was just getting to know Sona better, I didn't want them to go so soon.

"W-will you come back here at some point?"

"Oh, yeah, of course I will. I mean, I still have to finish this place, right? But you will be around the forest too, right?"

"Oh, y-yeah! I don't live far from the forest, so I could visit any time!"

"Great!" Sona walked to the ladder and started climbing down "So if you're free tomorrow night, we could start a fire and- AHH!"

Suddenly I heard a thud, and I rushed to the side of the tree house. I looked down and saw that Sona was lying on the ground, holding onto their elbow. They must have forgotten about the step that broke earlier and fell. I climbed down the ladder carefully and rushed over to Sona.

"A-are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" They sat up and looked up at me

"Yeah, I'll be okay. I think I just scratched my elbow." They uncovered their elbow, and it was bleeding through the dirt and leaves that were stuck on to it. "Dang, my brother isn't going to like it when he sees this..."

"I... I think I can heal this."

"Thanks, but if you put a Band-Aid on it it'll make it look obvious."

"A Band-Aid? No, I mean heal the wound. I just need to, um..." I brushed the dirt and leaves off her elbow with my hand. Sona let out a small "ow" as I did this, but once it was clean I held my hand over her wound.

"Just keep your arm as still as possible, okay?" Sona nodded their head in response. And with that, I used my hand to create green, healing magic and placed it on her elbow. It toke a few seconds, but when I was done I removed my hand and her wound was all gone. "See? You're all better now!" Sona didn't say anything, they just stared at their elbow, and then back at me. "Is... Is something else wrong, Sona?"

"No! Not at all! Just... how the heck did you do that?"

"Healing magic. It's a very simple spell, and your wound wasn't anything big so it didn't take too long to heal."

"Wow... Heh, you never cease to surprise me, you know that Zenko?" Sona smiled at me and stood up. "Say, do you think you'll be able to come around tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night? For what?"

"S'mores. I know last night wasn't really a good experience for you, and if your mom dosen't allow it then I understand. But night is the best time to make them. That is, if you still want to try them."

Come back to this forest at dark again? I didn't want to be lost and alone in the dark again. But if I used my paper trail again, and if Sona would be here, then maybe... maybe it wouldn't be as bad as it was before. But mommy was really worried about me the other night when I got lost, so I knew she would worry again if I stayed out that late again.

"Um... How about before sunset? So it wouldn't be dark like when we met last night? I don't want to make my mom worry again."

"Yeah, I understand. Before sunset will be okay." Sona picked up some of their belonging and put them in a bag they carried over their shoulder. "So tomorrow before sunset, right?"

"Y-yeah, tomorrow before sunset!"

* * *

"So will this be enough rocks?"

Sona placed a bunch of rocks around a stack of wood that I put together. They said we needed to make a fire to make the s'mores with, but they didn't know how to make a fire outside of their home. So I suggested that we should make a bonfire outside of the tree house and told them to get rocks as I made it. "Yeah, that should be plenty! These rocks will make sure the fire doesn't spread across the grass. I'll finish setting it up, could you roll the log closer, please?

"Yeah, sure thing!" While I was finishing the bon fire set up, Sona pushed a log near the stack so we could sit close to the fire.

"So if it's all done, then the next step then is to make the actual fire. Unfortunately I don't really know how to make one. I was thinking about borrowing my brother's lighter, but there was no way that he wouldn't notice."

"I could make the fire."

"You know how to make fire?"

"Yeah, it's easy!" I summoned a small ball of fire in my hand and tossed it into the pile of wood, setting the pile on fire. Sona took a sudden step away from the pile.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! How did you just-?"

"Magic!"

"Magic? You have magic that can make fire."

"Y-yeah?"

"That is... really awesome and really scary at the same time."

Sona sat down on the log next to me and dug around in their bag. One at a time, they pulled out the bag of marshmallows and other snacks I've never seen before. There was one small bag full of small brown rectangles and another full of light brown squares.

"Okay, so this is the stuff you need to make s'mores. You need two graham crackers..." they pulled out two of the light brown squares from the bag. "A piece of chocolate..." they pulled out one of the little brown squares from the bag. "And of course, a marshmallow." they pulled out one marshmallow from the bag. "Here, try the graham cracker and chocolate first to see if you like them."

They handed me the piece of chocolate and one of the graham crackers. I ate the graham cracker first, it didn't have much taste to it but the taste it did have was good. When I ate the peice of chocolate though, it was like my mouth was having a party again. I couldn't stop myself from smiling again until the taste finally left my mouth.

"The chocolate is just as good as the marshmallow! How are humans able to make stuff like this-?" I glanced over at Sona, but they were looking at something behind me. "What? I-is there something behind me?"

"No, I just noticed that your tail wags whenever you eat something, especially if it's really good."

I held my tail down and became flustered. "Oh geez."

Sona just laughs as they got another piece of chocolate and another graham cracker from the bags. "So when you make a s'more, it's kinda like making a sandwich. One graham cracker goes on the bottom, then you put the marshmallow on top of the cracker, then the chocolate on top of the marshmallow, and finally the second cracker on top of the whole thing." Sona stacked each piece on top of each other in the order they said, although it looked like it was a little hard to keep the stack together.

"It doesn't look like it'll stay together easily."

"That's where the fire come in. You hold the marshmallow over the fire until it turns brown. When it does it'll be soft and sticky, keeping the pieces together while you eat it. And to do that, we use these to hold the marshmallows."

They picked up two stick and handed one to me. Then they pushed their stick through the marshmallow and held it over the fire. I followed their lead and held my stick over the fire.

"So how long does it take for the marshmallows to turn brown?"

"A couple minutes, but it's important to make sure that you don't do it for too long, or that your marshmallow gets too close-" Suddenly, I heard the same ringing noise from yesterday. Sona reached one hand into their bag and pulled out their "cellphone".

"It's my brother again." They pressed a button on the cell phone and it stopped ringing, then put it back into their bag. "Sorry about that."

"Was he trying to talk to you again?"

"Yeah, but we're in the middle of something right now. He can wait."

"But you can still talk with him through your cellphone, even if you're really far apart?"

"Yep, pretty much."

"That's a really... nice thing to have then." I hung my head down a little as a bit of sadness started to come in.

"Zenko? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just... I just wish I could talk to my older brother that quickly too. He got a letter from other Kitsune that live far away and he went away to do some kind of important mission. I think that mission has something to do with our clan, but I'm not really sure. I just really miss him." I could feel a tear coming up in my eye, and I wiped it away with my hand before it could come down.

"I'm sorry Zenko, I didn't mean to make you feel-"

"No, it's okay. Besides, he'll be coming home when summer starts, so it won't be too long before I can see him again." I turned my head to Sona and met their gaze. "You're really lucky to be able to talk with your brother like that, no matter how far away he is."

"Yeah, I... I guess you're right." After Sona said that, it strangely became really quiet for a little while. I was going to ask them if there was something wrong, but before I could say anything, they asked "So, you have a mom and an older brother, right? Any other family members?"

"Not any that I could name, no. It's just me and my mom until Yako come home."

"Yako?"

"My brother."

"Oh, right. Do you, um... do you all look the same?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like I've heard that there are different kinds of monsters. Skeletons, ghosts, stuff like that. Is everyone in your family a white and black fox monster like you are, or are they different kinds of monsters?"

"We're part of the Kitsune clan, so we're all foxes."

"Dose everyone in your family also wear nothing but grey and black clothes too? Or is it just a coincidence that you've wore that for the past three times we've met?"

"Actually, it's a way for us to tell whether someone is a human or another Kitsune using their human disguise. It's almost like a secret code for us to know who is who."

"Was that how you were able to tell that I was a human instead of a disguised Kitsune when we first met? What if there's a human who wore grey and black clothing?"

"Then we could tell by the eyes. Our eyes are always dark grey, so even if a human wears colorless clothes we could tell that they weren't Kitsune because their eyes were colored. Besides, there aren't any other Kitsune around here."

"Really?"

"Yeah, there aren't any monsters around here except for me and my mom. She says that we're alone out here because of something called 'The Barrier'. And because of that we try to hide from humans."

"So you're not allowed to talk to humans, and there aren't any other monsters around here... does that mean you don't have any friends?"

I nod my head in response. "I didn't mind before because I still had Yako and mom to play with. But after Yako left, there were more times where I did things by myself. And... Yes, it can be lonely sometimes."

"Yeah, I know that feeling too well."

"Huh? But you live in a town full of other humans."

"Yeah, except that no one wants to be anywhere near me."

"I'm confused, why would they try to stay away from you?"

"Probably because people are scared of my brother and how over-protective he can be. They try to avoid him, so they also avoid me. It also doesn't help that even if I actually _did_ have friends, he wouldn't let anyone get near our house. The only people he lets in our house, and the only people I could potentially talk with, are his friends. And they're kinda jerks anyway."

"Are they mean to you?"

"Not all the time. Usually only when I try to talk to them, and they make it pretty clear that they don't want anything to do with me. Except..."

"Except...?"

"You know how my brother called me back home yesterday? It was because one of his friends wanted to talk to me. It was the one who creeps me out the most, talking about stuff that I don't really understand. Although the rest of my brother's friends keep calling him "scientist", so maybe he's just saying some smart stuff that I don't know about or something. He wanted to ask me a bunch of questions, but then he went back to my brother and their friends to talk about who-knows-what again. That was the most interaction I have ever had with another human besides my brother."

"But that's not fair. Why can he talk with friends but you're shut out by them?"

"I don't know why, maybe it's because he has 'important things' to talk about with them but..." Sona lowers their head. "It makes me feel all the more alone when he's too busy for me..."

"What about your..." Sona turned their head away from me before I could finish my sentence. I got the feeling that they didn't want to talk about their parents. Or maybe they didn't have anyone else besides their older brother, just like I didn't have anyone else besides my mom.

"Well... you're not alone right now." I place my hand on top on Sona's shoulder, to which they turned back to me. "I'm not supposed to talk to humans, and other humans won't let you talk to them, but we're talking right now anyway. So... So if we're not supposed to have friends either... we might as well break that rule too, right?"

Sona just looked at me surprised for a moment. Then, they gave me another smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks Zenko."

"Anything for a friend, right?"

"Yeah, exactly. Kinda like how I can give you my marshmallow because you caught yours on fire."

"Wait, what?" I looked over to the marshmallows on the other ends of the sticks and didn't realize until now that my marshmallow was on fire. I panicked and blew out the fire on it, but when I did all that was left was a hot, crunchy black layer over my little marshmallow. "Um... I don't think I did this part right."

Sona let out a laugh and offered me their stick, which had a light brown skin on the marshmallow. "No worries, it happens all the time. But here, I want you to experience what a s'more is like with a good marshmallow."

"But... then you would get the burnt one."

"It's alright, I kinda like burnt marshmallows better anyway."

We traded sticks and Sona showed me how to slide the sticky marshmallow onto the graham cracker and make the s'more. When I took a bite, it was like the two parties from the marshmallow and the chocolate got together and set off little explosions of deliciousness. This time, I could feel how much my tail was wagging while I was eating, which made me flustered again. Sona was watching me and laughing, harder than I've heard them laugh before.

"Hahaha! If you wag your tail any faster, I swear you might just be able to fly high."

I couldn't help but laugh at their comment as well. We made a few more s'mores together, up until Sona's cell phone made another ringing sound to which Sona answered to this time. I couldn't understand what was being said, but it sounded like someone was yelling through the cellphone, which startled Sona.

"Okay, okay, I'm on my way back now. Please calm down." Sone pressed a button on the cellphone and turned back towards me. "My brother is really mad that I ignored his call earlier and stayed out so late." I didn't notice until now that it was getting late, almost twilight. "Sorry Zenko, I need to go."

"That's okay, I should go home too before mom gets worried again. If your brother is really mad, then you should hurry home. I'll put out the fire."

"Thanks Zenko, you're awesome." Sona packed all their stuff back into their bag and hurried out of the forest. "See ya soon!"

"Goodnight Sona!"

* * *

"Hey Zenko, can you pass me the hammer please?"

"Sure thing!" I picked up the hammer that was next to me and held it up to Sona. They grabbed it and started to gently tap on a nail they were holding over a piece of wood on the wall.

"Thanks. Is this tapping okay for you, or is it still too loud for you focus on your book?"

"No, it's okay. But are you sure you're okay with me just sitting here and reading? I don't want to get in your way."

"Nah, you're find where you are. What kind of magic lessons is your mom giving you now?"

"Lessons about the SOUL, the differences between human and monster SOULs, and the various traits and spells connected to them."

"The SOUL? What do you mean when you say 'SOUL'?"

"You know, the very culmination of your being." Sona just looked at me puzzled. Then again Sona says that humans don't use magic so maybe they don't know about SOULs either. "It's basically the core of who and what you are. Here, I'll show you mine." I held up my hands over my chest and used magic to summon my SOUL, then I turned toward Sona to show them. They stared at my SOUL in awe.

"That's what a SOUL looks like? An upside down white heart?"

"Well, for monsters anyway. Humans have different kinds of SOULs that show different parts of who they are. I can summon your SOUL too if you want to see it."

At first, Sona looked a bit nervous about seeing their SOUL. "It won't hurt, will it?"

"Not at all. You may feel a bit of warmth in your chest, but summoning a SOUL is completely painless."

Sona was a bit hesitant, but then they put the hammer down and sat in front of me. "Well, okay then. Work your magic."

I held out my hands in front of Sona's chest, concentrated my magic on their SOUL, and summoned it into the palm of my hands. A right-side-up, orange heart filled the small tree house with its bright glow. Sona just starred at their SOUL, having the same reaction as I did when I first saw my own SOUL.

"So this... is me? This is my core?"

"Yep, and your SOUL is really bright too. My mom says that the brighter a SOUL glows, the stronger it is. And since its orange, that means it's... Um, one second." I let Sona hold their SOUL in their hands for a moment while I flipped through the pages of my book until I found the pages that talked about the Orange SOUL. "Aha, here we are! It says that humans with orange SOULS usually have traits connected to bravery. So I'd say it fits you well!" I turn back towards Sona and returned their SOUL to their body.

"But what does a SOUL do exactly?"

"Well the book says that, while it may depend on the individual, humans SOULS have the capacity to persist after death, while Monster SOULS cannot."

"Wait, why not?"

"The book says that it's because humans have physical bodies that make them stronger and able to handle more damage. Monster, however, have SOULs that are as fragile as their bodies."

"Your bodies?"

"Unlike humans, a monster's body is made up of magic. So when a monster dies, their body and SOUL turn to dust. When a human dies, their SOUL would shatter but their body would still remain."

"Okay, now I'm a bit disturbed at the fact that you're learning about what happens when people die."

"I don't like thinking about people dying either, but my mom says this is really important to learn."

"Well, your school your rules, I guess. You said humans have different kinds of SOULs, right?"

"Yeah."

"...What other kinds of SOULs are there?"

"Well let's see..." I flip through the pages, briefly looking through them to look for each type of human SOULS are written in this book. "Well there's are yellow SOULS, which are said to have traits similar to 'justice'. Green SOULS, which are connected to 'kindness'. Cyan SOULS are 'patient', blue SOULS are 'integral', purple SOULS 'persevere'-"

"What about a red SOUL?"

"Huh?" I looked up at Sona. They held their hands over their chest where their SOUL used to be, but they looked worried about something.

"Does it say anything about a 'red SOUL'?"

"Um..." I flip through the pages, but I couldn't find anything in that book. "No, this book doesn't say anything about red SOULS."

"Oh, Okay then." Sona picked up the hammer and tapped on the nail again.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason, really. It's just..." Sona stopped hitting the nail and lowered their arms. "You know the guy I talked about before? My brother's friend who talks about stuff I didn't understand?"

"Yes?"

"Well, one night when my brother was talking things over with his friends, that guy was talking about 'The Red SOUL' and how they were 'so close to seizing victory' or something like that. Normally when he talks like that, I just zone him and the rest of my brother's friends out. But when they were talking about that 'red SOUL', and the way they talked about it, I-"

Suddenly we heard a ringing sound, it was Sona's cell phone again. They picked it up quickly and answered it. After a few seconds, Sona presses a button and puts it away.

"It was my brother again, I have to go."

"Already? But it's so early compared to the other times we've been out here."

"He was really mad about me staying out at dark. Lately he's been getting more and more strict with how much time I can spend outside the house."

"Oh, I see. W-well, I'll see you soon, right?"

"Yeah, I hope so. And do me a favor? Keep an eye out for anything that's connected to a 'red SOUL'. If my brother is getting involved in... Well whatever that guy is talking about, I want to make sure that it's not something dangerous. Can you do that for me, Zenko?"

"Of course, I'll double check every page if I have to! Triple check even!"

"Thanks Zenko, I know I can count on you."

* * *

"It's really heavy, Sona."

"Just hold onto it for a little longer, I'm almost done!"

I was holding that door up with all my might while Sona was using a tool to drill nails into it. I could have sworn that my grip was about to slip, but just before it could;

"Okay, the door is in place now! You can let-" I immediately dropped my arms to my sides and fell back onto a 'bean bag' inside the room.

"Finally! The trials and tribulations are over at last!" I lifted my arms up one last time to let out a "Woo-Hoo!". Sona looked down at me with a chuckle as they put the tool back into their bag.

"You're right, Zenko. After all this time, the tree house is finally done!" Sona fell back onto the bean bag next to me and let out their own "Woo-Hoo!" too. Finally, after a month since we've met, Sona finally realized their goal of finishing this treehouse. It's still really small for a house, but in a way it also makes it cozy.

"So now that its complete, what are you going to use to decorate?"

"Decorate?"

"Yeah! We could decorate it together. I'll bring pillows, blankets, potted plants, and who knows what else we could put in here. Maybe you could bring in some pictures?"

"I... I don't have any pictures to put up."

"Oh, well that's okay. Maybe you could bring in some of your other stuff?"

Sona turned away from me. "I don't really have 'other stuff' to bring."

"That's okay, too. Your town has a shop, right? Maybe you could ask your brother to-"

"No. There's no way he'll have time to take me to a shop. I doubt I would have time myself."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing." Sona got up from the bean bag and looked out the window of the tree house. "You can be in charge of decorating, you'd probably be better at it than I could."

"Sona..." I got up from my and walked towards them. "Are things okay at home?"

"I don't know, I've never been in your home." They let out a small laugh. "But your brother will be back in a week or so, right? So I'm sure things at your house will be-"

"I mean _your_ home, Sona. You haven't been able to come here for days. I was worried about you, and I still am."

"You don't have to be, I'm fine. I'm just... busy."

"With what? You don't go to school like you said other humans do, and you don't talk to anyone else, so what going on?"

"Look, Zenko, just because we're friends doesn't mean I have to tell you every little thing that goes on in my life."

"You don't have to, but-"

'Then please, just drop it. I'm fine, we're all fine here."

"But you're not. The past few times I've seen you, you've been acting... different. Like there was something wrong but you kept brushing it off."

"I'm telling you, I'm-"

"Stop saying that!" I lost control of how loud I said those words, along with the control of holding back tears in my eyes. "You always say that, but I know it's not true. Please..." I walked up to Sona and grabbed their hands with my own. "Tell me what's wrong. If someone needs help, you help them, right? That was you said when we met, and that's exactly what you did. I want to help you, Sona. So please let me."

Silence followed my plea to Sona, they were very hesitant to say anything after I lost control myself. "Zenko... I... I-" They were interrupted by the ringing noise that was all too familiar. Sona starred down at the cell phone on the ground, but this time I saw fear in their eyes. Hesitantly, they picked it up and answered. There was nothing but silence in the room for a few seconds.

"Okay." Sona pressed the button to end the call, but when they did I noticed that their arm was shaking. They tried to use their other hand to stop it, but it kept shaking. I walked up to Sona and put my hand on their shoulder.

"Sona?" They stayed quite for a moment, then they turned towards me.

"Zenko... Do you think... That you could come to the tree house at night? Like, late at night tonight?"

"How late?"

"You might need to sneak out of your house while your mom is asleep."

"That late?! But why?"

"Because it'll be the only other time I can see you today. My brother called me back."

"But what about-?"

"I want to talk to you about it, I really do. That's why I'm asking you to come here so late. Please?" Sona looked really scared. What did their brother say in that call that made them like this?

"Okay, I promise."

"Thank you." Sona put their things away into their bag and headed for the door out of the tree house. "I'll see you tonight."

I went back home after Sona left, and when it was time for bed I tried my best to pretend that I was asleep while not actually falling asleep. Eventually my clock said it was midnight, so I thought this was the best time to go. I opened my bedroom window, grabbed my paper trail, and snuck out of my home and ran toward the forest. By now I've memorized where the tree house is in the forest, but I always kept the paper trail on me just in case I got lost again. When I got to the tree house, I noticed that there was light coming from the inside. I climbed up the ladder and knocked lightly on the door. Seconds later, Sona opened it up and let me inside. They've placed candles inside glass cages around the room to keep it lit up. We sat on bean bags across from each other, and I noticed that their skin was a bit paler than it was before.

"Sona, are you okay?"

They shook their head. "No... I'm not okay, Zenko. I feel... I feel lost."

"Why, what going on?"

"You didn't find anything about a 'red SOUL' in your books yet, have you?"

"No, I'm sorry. But tomorrow I'm going to start going over a book about 'Forbidden and Dangerous SOUL Spells' so maybe I might find something in there."

"I think it might be too late for that, Zenko."

"Wh-why do you say that?" At that moment I realized that Sona's eyes were a bit faded. The books I've read said that 'the eyes are connected to the SOUL' so I thought that it might have meant that...

"Sona, let me see your SOUL."

"My SOUL? W-why?"

"Please? I want to help you, and I'm worried that something might have changed in your SOUL." Sona looked down and sighed.

"I know something changed..." They gave me a nod and allowed me to summon their SOUL again. However this time it wasn't the bright, glowing orange SOUL that I saw before. Instead, the glow had dimmed and part of it has turned grey.

"Sona, what... what happened?" They were staring down at their own SOUL. I couldn't make eye contact with them, their hair was overshadowing their eyes. It was hard to tell what they were even feeling.

"You said that orange SOULs were connected to 'bravery' right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not brave, Zenko. Or at least, I don't feel like I can be brave. Things at home... The things that my brother is getting into, the things that his friends are saying... They say that I will be the key to finding and using the 'red SOUL'. And it's making me... I..." Sona looked up at me and tears fell down from their eyes. "I'm scared, Zenko. I'm really, really scared! Scared of what my brother is trying to do, scared of what his friends are doing with him, scared of this 'red SOUL', and scared of what they'll do to me to get it. I don't know what to do!"

I returned Sona's SOUL back to their body so that I could move up next to them and hug them. I couldn't understand exactly what was happening at their home, but I knew that they needed some comfort. I wrapped my tail around them to try to help them feel better.

"Sona, if this is scaring you so much, why don't you tell your brother that you don't want to do... whatever it is they're planning to do?"

"I don't know if he'll listen to me. He keeps saying that 'this will be the best for us', that 'we'll have better lives because of this'. I think that's what his friends are telling him, but I don't know if he would be okay with me not going through with it."

"But you aren't okay with doing this either."

"No, I'm not. But for as long as I can remember, Will has been working so hard to keep our family going. It might just be him and I, but he has always done anything he could to support us. I never really knew what he did before, I just knew that he would come back to our small house exhausted and with a bag of food to keep us going for the week." Sona wiped the tears out of their eyes. "But then he's made these 'friends' that are talking about another way to live better lives. To become 'the kings and queens of the world'. Of course he would do whatever it takes for us to live like that, and now he says that they need me to 'play my part' in all of this."

I wanted to help, I really did, but I didn't know what to say. Their brother, Will, was trying to support his family. Just like Yako is doing for our family. Was this really the only way for them, though? Was this really worth putting Sona through all of this? I kept asking myself those questions, but I didn't know how to answer them or what to say to Sona. But then I thought "If Yako was Will, would he do the same thing? What would he say if I told him I didn't want to do something, even if it would make us 'kings and queens'?". And that's when I found my answer, or at least I hoped it would be the right answer.

"You and Will are family, right?" Sona gave me a small nod. "Then if you tell him that you don't want to do this, and that this thing is making you so scared, I'm sure he would understand. My family isn't big either, but neither one of us would want to make the other do something that would put them through something like this. When there was something I was scared of, even when it didn't seem like a big deal to him, Yako knew that I was upset and tried to cheer me up. If your brother loves you the same way my brother loves me, then I'm sure he'll see that this is making you upset and stop. You just need to talk to him. But no matter what..." I tightened my hug around Sona a little. "I'll be here to help you too. Just let me know when you need me, and I'll be there. I promise."

I heard sniffles coming from Sona, and I felt their hand move to dry their eyes from tears, then they wrapped their arms around me to return the hug. "Thank you Zenko... Thank you so much."

"Just have hope, things will be okay. You will be okay."

* * *

"Almost got it, and... There!" It took a while, but I finally finished hanging the 'flower trails" I've made around the doorway. I knew Sona would love seeing all those Marsh-Mallow flowers lines up around the door and windows. I decided to get a head start in decorating the tree house while I was waiting for Sona to come around. I added some old pillows and blankets that mom wasn't using anymore, some potted Marsh-Mallow flowers, and some paper and crayons that we couls draw with. I didn't think I could add any more stuff without Sona, so I sat by the doorway and waited for them... and waited... and waited... When it was almost sunset, I decided to read ahead in my new book while I waited. I haven't started my lessons with this book with my mom yet, but I thought reading ahead wouldn't hurt. I started with the first page, where it had a list of forbidden spell names with brief notes about each of them.

"Absorption - When a human dies, a monster can absorb their SOUL before it shatters."

"Bête Noire - Using a human's body as a vessel, another human can preserve their SOUL even after death."

"Blanc Slate - Using a monster SOUL to fill an empty human SOUL."

I noticed that most of these spells had either strange names, like "Bête Noire" or ones that might have been misspelled, like "Blanc Slate" replaced the "k" with a "c". I never really understood why spell names can be so confusing sometimes. I glanced over the other names that were on the list until I stopped at one the stood out.

"The Red SOUL - An enigmatic human SOUL said to have the power to reshape the world."

The Red SOUL, that was what Sona wanted to know more about! I turned to the page number that it referred to. It had an image of the SOUL on one of the pages, and notes about it on the other. At first I didn't understand why the red SOUL was in the Forbidden Spells book instead of the SOULs book. But after what I saw in the book, I understood why Sona was so scared of it.

"The Red SOUL - A variation of a human SOUL represented with a red glow. Unlike the other variations of a human SOUL, the red variant is extremely rare and only one appears at a time. Not much is known about its abilities, but it has been said that humans possessed with a red SOUL would have the power to change and reshape the world around them, whether it saves other people or destroys them. Possessing more determination than any other SOUL, it is nearly impossible to stop a human with a red SOUL from achieving their goals. It is also rumored that humans with this SOUL might also possess time-altering abilities in some way, shape, or form.

While there are few studies, it seems like the red SOUL might have a mind of its own. As humans who were shown to have this SOUL were said to behave unusually, as if they became an entirely new person. It is also theorized that the red SOUL would 'spawn' inside humans who are empty, as if they were husks for the red SOUL to use. While the SOUL itself occures naturally, it is forbidden to attempt to summon one unnaturally. This has been proven to be possible when a living human has had their SOUL lose their original trait and emptied out. This could trigger a red SOUL to appear and replace the empty SOUL of the human before their original SOUL could shatter and die."

I couldn't feel anything but one thing; fear. Is this what Will and his friends were trying to do? And if that's the case, then why do they need... Sona. Their SOUL was losing its color last night... I knew I needed to find them. Even if it might mean that I would need to go to their village and be exposed to so many other humans, I had to see if they were okay. I closed my book, put it back into my bag, and hurried down the ladder. As soon as I got to the ground though, I heard and ear-piercing scream coming from somewhere outside the forest. It was definitely Sona's voice.

Without even thinking, I rushed to the direction of the scream until I reached the end of the forest. I couldn't see anything besides a dark cave. There was nowhere else that their scream could have come from, Sona had to be somewhere in there. My body started to shake again, just like that one night in the forest. I didn't want to go in the dark again. But... Sona was in there, all alone in the dark. They helped me, so now I need to help them. I walked towards the cave and looked inside, and I saw something was walking towards me. I took a few steps back away from it, not knowing what it was at first. But when it came out of the cave...

"S-Sona?!"

They were walking out of the cave so slowly, with a limp. They were holding a hand over their chest, as if they were in pain. They almost fell over, but I caught them in time. They didn't even have energy to lift their head to look at me, I couldn't see their eyes through their hair.

"Zenko... run..."

"Wh-what-?"

"SONA!"

I heard a shout from inside the cave, and I saw five shadowy figures running towards us before they suddenly stopped.

"Wh-what is that thing?"

"A monster? But that's impossible!"

"It has Sona. Kill it so we can resume the process!"

They started running toward us again. I froze, I didn't know what to do. I wanted them to stop, but I didn't want to hurt them either. I looked around in a panic to see what could be done. Then I noticed that the cave entrance has grass and plant vines all around it. I made a fire ball and threw it at the ground in front of the cave's entrance, which caused the other humans to stop. Then I used my magic to make the fire follow up the vines around the cave until the whole entrance was covered in flames. That should keep them away for a while, but I knew I had to get Sona away from them. I held onto Sona and started to run as fast as possible back into the forest.

* * *

I was surprised that I was able to find the tree house so easily, especially when it was getting so dark. There weren't any candles to use, and I didn't want to use up time by going home to get some. So instead I lied Sona back against the tree under the tree house and used my fire magic to light up the bonfire again. I looked all over Sona, but it didn't look like they had any injuries. But then I remembered that they were holding onto their chest, and after what I read in my book, I knew something must have happened to their SOUL. So I used my magic to summon Sona's SOUL and... It was just what I was afraid to see. Their SOUL lost all its color, and it was completely empty. I reached a hand to grab Sona's should and shook them a bit.

"Sona?"

They didn't respond at all. They weren't dead, but they weren't awake either. I looked back down at their SOUL and thought that if I used healing magic, it could help restore their SOUL. But no matter how much I used my magic on it, the SOUL didn't change at all. I couldn't help but to start crying. I wanted to help save Sona, but I didn't know what to do. If healing magic didn't work, then what can help an... empty SOUL... Wait, my book said something about filling an empty SOUL! I pulled it ouf of my bag and frantically flipped through the pages until I found it.

"Blanc Slate - When a living human's SOUL becomes empty, a monstercan fill it using their own SOUL. This will prevent the eventual shattering of the human's SOUL and death of the human. However, when this happens the monster's body will not be able-"

I didn't think to read the rest of it. If this is what it will take to help Sona and keep them safe from being taken over by the red SOUL, and I'll do it. I summoned their SOUL again and held it in my left hand, and then summoned and held my SOUL in my other hand. I took some deep breaths to calm my nerves and stop shaking. This will work, I know it. I tried to make my SOUL fill Sona's, but when it started I immediately felt pain and pulled them away from each other. It hurt so much, and my body felt so weak, even if it was for one second. I cried a few tears from the pain, I didn't want to feel it again. But... Sona was still in trouble. They needed my help...

"It... It will be okay... It will be okay..."

I held the two SOULs together again and allowed my SOUL to starting filling Sona's. It hurts, and my body felt lighter and lighter the more Sona's SOUL was filled up. I wanted it to stop, but I kept myself from pulling the SOULs apart again. As our SOULS were almost done, I tried to keep my focus away from the pain and looked up at Sona. Everything around me started to get blurry, but it wasn't from the tears that were leaving my eyes.

"Sona... can you hear me? Its me... Zenko. Everything will be okay... It will be... okay... You will be… okay... We... will be… okay..."

Everything went dark.

"I... I promise..."

* * *

 _The SOULS of the human child and the monster child became one. When the spell was completed, the Kitsune's body turned to dust and covered the human's body in a protective, magical layer. Where there was once two children, now lies a single being, with the form of the human but as colorless as the Kitsune. The spell kept the two children alive, but now they no longer existed. All that's left of them was a sleeping child, a new creation..._

 _A Blanc Slate_


End file.
